"Better" is a subjective term. Better in what way? Sound? Build quality? Consistency between speakers? It is unlikely there is anything to pick between Japanese and European speakers as regards functional quality, although individual companies may use higher quality components (which may or may not have a noticable impact on sound) or put higher value (and increase speaker price) on fit / finish. Be aware that very similar performance can be obtained from speakers falling over a large price range.
The bottom line is that when it comes to sound quality professional reviews (by those who have, or think they have, "golden ears") almost always give higher marks to non-Asian speakers. I put it this way because there are many excellent US and Canadian speaker manufacturers in addition to European firms, and generally these products beat out not only Japanese, but other speakers of Asian manufacture. Whether this is because North Americans or Europeans prefer a different sound is unclear.
For years there was debate about the "British sound", or "East Coast US sound" vs the "West Coast sound" or which speakers were best for Rock Music or Voice, or whatever ... suggesting that there may be a cultural or musical preference involved.
Theoretically speakers should be as neutral as possible. There is so much unscientific bafflespeak about speakers that the buyer would be advised to listen, read reviews and ... finally choose based on personal preference within a price range s/he is prepared to pay. It may be useful to consider the old advice to plan on spending as much on speakers as on the electronics (amplifier/receiver plus program source (e.g DVD/CD player)).
I personally have speakers from Japanese, US and Canadian firms ( Klipsh, Rectilinear, JVC, Totem, Snell, Yamaha, Logitech, and Denon). The sound from the Totems (Canadian) and Snells (US) are the "best" (and most expensive), but the others fit the purposes for which they were bought, and even the oldest at 35 years plus still work fine.